Complaint Review: Compass Bank

As I have said, it is not the bank's fault it was overdrawn. I also had no control over it. As for the NSF notice, it was dated 4 days before it was received, which was over two weeks after the situation occurred, so do not always assume it was the mail service.

As for their fees, I contacted them several times to request assistance. They may have all the "free" stuff, but they also add $6 a day for up to 30 days on top of the NSF fees for every day an account is overdrawn. By the time I found out what was going on and contacted them, the only comment I got was that it is only for up to 30 days - 6 x 30 = $180 in addition to all the other fees.

No Bill, I do not expect overnight or a phone call, however, I do expect it in a timely manner. They expect everything in a timely manner. If you owe them money they do not want to wait. I have emailed them 2 more times and just get some standard reply, that does not even answer my questions and that tell me to sign up for overdraft protection - on an account that no longer exists, for branch offices that no longer exist.

As for the auto debits, they had existed and had no problem for several years before this, so I had to reason to believe there was a problem.

I did not overdraft the account, it was an error on the part of the Navy Department, who of course, could care less what problem they caused. It was a situation I had no control over. I am not saying the bank casued the problem, but they did not help at all.

When I first emailed their customer service they told me to call the branch office, which was no longer in existence. I emailed back and was told to call the 800 number and they could help me. I did call, more than once, and did NOT receive any help.

As I have said, it is not the bank's fault it was overdrawn. I also had no control over it. As for the NSF notice, it was dated 4 days before it was received, which was over two weeks after the situation occurred, so do not always assume it was the mail service.

As for their fees, I contacted them several times to request assistance. They may have all the "free" stuff, but they also add $6 a day for up to 30 days on top of the NSF fees for every day an account is overdrawn. By the time I found out what was going on and contacted them, the only comment I got was that it is only for up to 30 days - 6 x 30 = $180 in addition to all the other fees.

No Bill, I do not expect overnight or a phone call, however, I do expect it in a timely manner. They expect everything in a timely manner. If you owe them money they do not want to wait. I have emailed them 2 more times and just get some standard reply, that does not even answer my questions and that tell me to sign up for overdraft protection - on an account that no longer exists, for branch offices that no longer exist.

As for the auto debits, they had existed and had no problem for several years before this, so I had to reason to believe there was a problem.

I did not overdraft the account, it was an error on the part of the Navy Department, who of course, could care less what problem they caused. It was a situation I had no control over. I am not saying the bank casued the problem, but they did not help at all.

When I first emailed their customer service they told me to call the branch office, which was no longer in existence. I emailed back and was told to call the 800 number and they could help me. I did call, more than once, and did NOT receive any help.

As I have said, it is not the bank's fault it was overdrawn. I also had no control over it. As for the NSF notice, it was dated 4 days before it was received, which was over two weeks after the situation occurred, so do not always assume it was the mail service.

As for their fees, I contacted them several times to request assistance. They may have all the "free" stuff, but they also add $6 a day for up to 30 days on top of the NSF fees for every day an account is overdrawn. By the time I found out what was going on and contacted them, the only comment I got was that it is only for up to 30 days - 6 x 30 = $180 in addition to all the other fees.

No Bill, I do not expect overnight or a phone call, however, I do expect it in a timely manner. They expect everything in a timely manner. If you owe them money they do not want to wait. I have emailed them 2 more times and just get some standard reply, that does not even answer my questions and that tell me to sign up for overdraft protection - on an account that no longer exists, for branch offices that no longer exist.

As for the auto debits, they had existed and had no problem for several years before this, so I had to reason to believe there was a problem.

I did not overdraft the account, it was an error on the part of the Navy Department, who of course, could care less what problem they caused. It was a situation I had no control over. I am not saying the bank casued the problem, but they did not help at all.

When I first emailed their customer service they told me to call the branch office, which was no longer in existence. I emailed back and was told to call the 800 number and they could help me. I did call, more than once, and did NOT receive any help.

As I have said, it is not the bank's fault it was overdrawn. I also had no control over it. As for the NSF notice, it was dated 4 days before it was received, which was over two weeks after the situation occurred, so do not always assume it was the mail service.

As for their fees, I contacted them several times to request assistance. They may have all the "free" stuff, but they also add $6 a day for up to 30 days on top of the NSF fees for every day an account is overdrawn. By the time I found out what was going on and contacted them, the only comment I got was that it is only for up to 30 days - 6 x 30 = $180 in addition to all the other fees.

No Bill, I do not expect overnight or a phone call, however, I do expect it in a timely manner. They expect everything in a timely manner. If you owe them money they do not want to wait. I have emailed them 2 more times and just get some standard reply, that does not even answer my questions and that tell me to sign up for overdraft protection - on an account that no longer exists, for branch offices that no longer exist.

As for the auto debits, they had existed and had no problem for several years before this, so I had to reason to believe there was a problem.

I did not overdraft the account, it was an error on the part of the Navy Department, who of course, could care less what problem they caused. It was a situation I had no control over. I am not saying the bank casued the problem, but they did not help at all.

When I first emailed their customer service they told me to call the branch office, which was no longer in existence. I emailed back and was told to call the 800 number and they could help me. I did call, more than once, and did NOT receive any help.

I am truly sorry for your inconvenience and the hardship that you incurred but I don't see how Compass Bank is at fault in this situation? It seems to me that after reading your story that the U.S. Navy dropped the ball on this one. The fees do seem pretty steep but then again how is it the Compass Banks fault that your account became overdrawn?

I beleive that Compass bank's main office is out of Birmingham, AL you mentioned that it took a long time for you to recieve a letter in the mail regarding the fact that your account was overdrawn.

What did you think was going to happen? An overnight fed-ex telling you your account was overdrawn? Maybe an instant phone call? Is your phone number up to date with the bank? All BANKS send NSF and OD notices via bulk mail ground through the U.S. postal service and It would be sent from Birmingham to Arizona.

I'm sure as you know the mail man isn't as quick and accurate as we would like him to be. I know that Compass bank offers Free internet banking that you can view 24/7 to check balances PAY BILLS on line versus "HAVING AUTO DEBITS that are out of you control once a company has your info?" They can debit your account at anytime without any prior notice.

I also beleive that Compass Bank touts the fact that they have completely free checking. Well lets look at this. Free checks for life, Free PC banking and bill pay, free debit card, no minimum balance and no direct deposit required and they reimburse every single ATM fee on the planet to there customers.

If that is not free then I don't know what free is? It is your responsibility to manage your account ie. stay on top of your balances and keep an ACCURATE check register. Compass Bank is a business like any other and they are in business to make money!! They can't keep everything free because they would not be in business if they did?

Botom line don't overdraw your account.

The error has finally been resolved, a little at a time. The Navy finance office paid me the back owed until it was caught up. I just hope we don't go through this again. My ex-husband received his money first but because it is under court order, the finance department had to send it. It has taken since September of last year to get it straightened out. I would probably still be trying to get info if someone in the courthouse here had not intervened.

The finance department was refusing to tell me anything because the payment has to go through a clearing house in Phoenix before I get it. With the help of a lady in the court house, she contacted people, I was able to finally get information and get it resolved. My ex claimed they wouldn't tell him anything either, although I find that a little hard to believe.

Thanks for your advise. I haven't considered a congressional inquiry. The whole thing happened because a letter addressed to my ex was sent to his father's house (same name), who is deceased. Someone marked the envelope deceased and sent it back. The finance department took that as truth and stopped all the payments.

Thanks for the explanation Marilee, it helped my understanding.

It is not likely you will get anywhere with the bank. The Department of Defense made a blatent error and should be held accountable, financially and otherwise.

I recommend you write a letter to your congressional representatives detailing this situation and ask them to investigate. The Department of Defense, in this case the Defense Finance and Accounting Service is responsible. You would be suprised how quickly DOD agencies become cooperative in investigating a matter when there is a Congressional inquiry.

As for your ex-husband and the funds. At this point, the error should have been resolved. The retroactive pay should now be in your husband's account - has he paid you what is owed???

When I contacted her father about the situation he did not know about it. His retirement was going into the bank and sitting there. He said he wasn't using it, so he had not checked to see if it had been deposited. He was able to get his money long before I got the child support.

As for using it for insurance, the health insurance (which ended up being cancelled), the life insurance (which also got cancelled) were both for my daughter. Without the car insurance (required in AZ and for finance company) I could not drive, which means I could not go to work, transport my daughter to school, band activities, Civil Air Patrol meetings, church, and numberous other activities. I was saving the additional to use for Christmas for her, and clothes as needed.

I suppose life insurance on her could be considered for me. Should something happen I would benefit by being able to give her a decent funeral, but it would also have converted to her when she hit 21.

Marilee,

Despite what the previous poster asked, the U.S. Navy had no responsibility to inform you of your ex-husbands passing. It suprises me that you did not maintain some sort of contact with the father of your child, for the child's sake if nothing else. That, I'm sure, is another story and you had your reasons.

Compass bank did not bother to inform you quickly because they wanted to stick you with the fees. This is a large amount of their annual income. If there is any fault here it is your insurance company. When payment wasn't processed they should have immediately notified you so you could address the issue.

My question for you. You posted:

"I had automatic withdrawls for life, health and car insurance coming out of the account. That was all it was being used for"

Why were the funds being utilized in this manner? Aside from the health insurance, the remainder seems to have been to meet YOUR expenses. You stated these funds were for child support. I am just interested on your views in how you believe this utilization of the funds benefits your child.

It has taken 7 months just to get the child support straightened out. When I mentioned their error caused this problem with the bank they did not seem to care. They would not even respond to it. Had Compass not taken 3 weeks to send me an NSF check notice I could have put a stop to the withdrawls. The insurance companies did not notify me until they had tried 3 times. I also contacted the bank to enlist their assistance several times and received no advice accept to contact the local branch, which was closed. Since the checks had been going in for several years with no problem I did not check to see if it was there. I had not been notified by the Navy or the court that the payments were stopped.

Since the problem was cause by the Navy (not by Compass), they should be paying your fees.

Of course I realize getting anything from a government agency is difficult but that may be your only recourse.

I don't see where Compass bank was at fault. They were following their same policy that they have for every account holder. If the money isn't there, the money isn't there. Its not up to Compass to determine if there is a problem.

Granted the account was only used for insurance premium payments, I would have at least checked when the debit was scheduled to be sure the payment was made and in the correct amount (otherwise coverage may have been interupted for non-payment).

Didn't the insurance companies notify you that your payment had been returned NSF?

Good luck. I hope you get the resolution you need.